MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H.
THOMAS
Commander of the Army of the Cumberland
Union Army
The "Rock of Chickamauga" was the title bestowed on Union General George H. Thomas for saving the army by holding a hill on the left when the right fled from the field at the Battle of Chickamauga. His greatest defensive victory came at the Battle of Nashville where his army devastated the Confederate forces as they made a frontal attack. His greatest offensive victory came at the Battle of Chattanooga where his army captured Missionary Ridge with a frontal attack. He never lost a battle where he had the top command.
George H. Thomas was born in Southampton County, Virginia on July 31, 1816. His roommate for the first year at the United States Military Academy at West Point was William T. Sherman. He graduated 12th in his class in 1840. He provided distinguished service in the Seminole War and the Mexican War. He was wounded by a Comanche arrow in a Texas frontier skirmish. He taught cavalry tactics to Phil Sheridan and J. E. B. Stuart at West Point. He taught artillery tactics to John B. Hood at West Point. When the Civil War began, he chose to stay with the Union despite his sisters' support of their home state of Virginia and the Confederacy.